Tayto Park With A 5 Year Old ♥

*We were given complimentary entry and wristbands for Tayto Park, however, as always, all thoughts and opinions expressed are 100% my own.

Last weekend we were invited along to Tayto Park - Ireland's best theme park, to experience their new Ladybird Loop ride, as well as all the other delights the park has to offer.

We decided to just take Tyler this time round - the four of us went to the park last year, but with him starting school at the end of the month, we decided that this would be the perfect treat for him before he headed off to big school. We weren't wrong either, he had an absolutely fab time!

The majority of Tayto Park's rides work on a height restriction basis and with Tyler being just over 1.1m this meant that he could go on quite a lot! The area of the park with the most rides and attractions suitable for his height was Eagle's Nest, so that's where we headed first and where we spent the majority of our day.

He had a fab time going on all the rides - having a wristband (€17.50) means you can go on unlimited rides and is far better value than the tokens I find, especially if you know your child is going to want to go on everything! We went on a busy Sunday of a bank holiday weekend and the park was bustling, but even with the crowds, the queues for the rides weren't too long at all. I think the longest queue was for the Nissan Driving School, which Tyler really wanted to do, but the queue was 50 minutes long by the time we got there so we gave it a miss. Other than that everything else was quite quick.

It was absolutely sweltering in the park on the day we visited so we let Tyler run under the water fountains. This is perfect for kids of all ages and he had great fun trying to work out where the water would be coming from next. We were lucky we had packed a change of clothes for him though! If you're kids love the water as much as Tyler, definitely bring a small towel and a change of clothes for them because the water fountains are just fab. Such simple fun, but great fun for the kids!

We took turns going on the rides with him, but then realised you can just leave your bags at the side. I think he liked the novelty of it being - "mummy's turn, daddy's turn" etc. though.

Of course, having a 5 year old in tow means you'll get lots of moans of - "I'm hungry" throughout the day. We did pack our own snacks and drinks but also stopped for lunch in the Pizza Place, which is situated beside the lake. An adult meal is two slices of pizza and a drink, a kids meal is one slice of pizza and a drink. You can also buy a large pizza and four drinks for €20. We also stopped at Scoops & Sprinkles for two ice-creams and a unicorn slushie. We loved our ice-creams with the three toppings. I think the whole lot came to about eleven euro-something.

There's free face painting in the park, so we cued up to let Tyler get his face painted as a dinosaur. There's lots of different designs to choose from and honestly, he was so delighted with having his face painted. The face painting takes place in the arts and crafts tent by the zoo.

Of course, the new ride we were there to see was the Ladybird Loop and it was actually the first ride we went on. Tyler had an absolute ball on it - it's the first rollercoaster he's ever been on.

It's a spinning coaster, with the carriages moving around while the coaster moves. It's not scary in the slightest though and perfect for kids Tyler's age to get all the thrill of a rollercoaster without the scary drops.

We had a fab time on it and when I went off to ride the big adult rollercoaster myself (now that was a little bit scary!), Tyler actually wanted to go back on the Ladybird Loop with his dad, but the queue for it was a bit too long to wait - we had to drive back to Cork after our trip to Tayto Park so had to leave at six (we didn't get home til gone ten!).

Before we left the park we had a quick look around the zoo at all the lovely animals they have there. I have to admit, Tyler's not a big animal lover, only if he's able to interact with them, so he was a lot more interested in the rides. But if you're kids love animals then the zoo is a must visit!

Jacek also roamed around the zoo while I waited with Tyler to get his face painted, so it's not just fun for the kids either!

Tayto Park also offers some fab playgrounds - the largest of which Tyler just had to visit twice! The park really does offer so much for kids and I think it's great value for money. There's no other day out like it in Ireland and we had one very happy and tired little boy after our visit. He refused to take his wristband off for days!

We had a fab day out in Tayto Park and made some great memories with Tyler. It was lovely to spend some one-on-one time with him, it's something he doesn't get much of since his little brother came along and not something he really asks for either (he asked for Beau the whole way back down the motorway to Cork), but it was lovely nonetheless.

In hindsight we should have probably stayed overnight somewhere before going to Tayto Park because you could easily spend two days in Tayto Park. We still didn't get to see the Viking Village or go on the other adult rides as we simply didn't have the time, but that just means we'll have to go back again!

Thank you so much to Tayto Park for inviting us along, we had the best time, had lots of fun and made some great memories. I highly recommend a visit!

My top 5 tips for visiting Tayto Park with a 5 year old -
1. Bring a change of clothes and small towel for the water fountains.
2. Wear comfy shoes - you'll all do a lot of walking!
3. Pack drinks, if you're visiting on a warm day you'll need them!
4. Get the wristbands instead of tokens, they're far better value for money.
5. Stop for lunch and snacks when you need to. The park is quite large and a well-fed and watered child is much easier to navigate with!